By evening, everyone had taken their leave, and Peach Blossom Manor gradually returned to its usual tranquillity.
On the carriage home, the two little girls’ stomachs were like bottomless pits. They still managed to stuff in chocolate, pistachios, candied walnuts, crisps, and orange juice.
The others said nothing, only exchanging meaningful glances before sneaking peeks at Ao Qi, who sat to one side.
And Ao Qi?
Her hair was dishevelled, her face pale, her eyes vacant, her lips trembling slightly.
If they hadn’t all been present and known exactly what happened, they might have thought Lu Zheng had forced himself on her.
“Ao Qi, Brother Lu really is an excellent chess player. Even I can’t beat him. It’s nothing to be upset about,” Yan Hongxia consoled her.
Du Yueyao and Wang Xiaowan couldn’t hold back their laughter.
Ao Qi had lost game after game. Unable to watch any longer, Yan Hongxia had stepped in to avenge her, only to be crushed even faster and flee in disgrace.
Lady River God had wanted to save face for her former liege, but after observing just two moves, she decided she dared not join the fray.
That was how Ao Qi ended up in her current state. Had Yan Hongxia not supported her, she might not even have made it onto the carriage.
Liu Qingyan quietly pinched Lu Zheng and sent him a private message. “Couldn’t you have gone a little easier on her?”
Lu Zheng felt wronged. “She told me to give it everything I had. She wanted a fair fight, even invoked the honour of the Azure Dragon clan. What was I supposed to do? Of course I obliged her thoroughly.”
“But still…”
Liu Qingyan glanced at Ao Qi, who looked on the verge of a breakdown. “What do we do now?”
“What’s there to worry about? You’re a divine physician. A little soul-shock is child’s play for you,” Lu Zheng said nonchalantly.
“I’m being serious!”
“Alright, alright.”
Lu Zheng quickly soothed Liu Qingyan, then turned to Ao Qi. “Losing at Go is just losing at Go. We can compete at something else.”
Ao Qi’s eyes flickered.
Lu Zheng continued earnestly, “Though you lost at sparring and lost at chess, that doesn’t mean I’m better at everything.”
Ao Qi clenched her teeth. The other women felt their own teeth ache in sympathy.
Yan Hongxia immediately asked, “Then what should we compete at?”
Lu Zheng blinked. He had added points to music, chess, calligraphy, and painting; Ao Qi stood no chance there. From his modern perspective, the only feminine skill left was…
“Singing, perhaps?”
Lu Zheng genuinely couldn’t sing. He had been tone-deaf since university and had never invested points in it. He should lose to a professional.
Ao Qi was speechless. Sparring was a cultivator’s duty. Go was refined elegance. And now you want me to compete in singing?
What honour is there in winning that? Perform in a pleasure house? I might as well challenge you to childbirth. I’d definitely win that one!
“Never mind. No more competitions,” Ao Qi said, waving her hand listlessly.
She had played chess to regain some pride, only to lose even more spectacularly and start questioning her existence. Another round would just be desperate face-saving. A dignified princess of the dragon clan should have more class than that.
She shot a sideways glance at Ao Qian, who was eating chocolate and giggling with Liu Qingquan. Ao Qi pursed her lips, feeling oddly betrayed by her own kin. A certain thought in her heart grew firmer.
With Lu Zheng cracking jokes and the two little girls livening the mood, Ao Qi gradually recovered. She straightened up, a flash of silver light rippled across her body, and in the next moment she was once again the valiant, icy dragon princess.
Seeing her back to normal, Yan Hongxia happily peeled a chocolate for her.
Ao Qi accepted it without ceremony, then snatched another already-unwrapped piece from Ao Qian’s hand.
Ao Qian: ???
…
Three more days passed. Ao Qi and Yan Hongxia sparred with Lu Zheng twice more and visited Jade Spirit Garden with Liu Qingyan another two times. At lunch on this day, they announced their departure.
Yan Hongxia said, “We’ve been away three years. We need to return to the mountain soon so our teachers don’t worry. We leave tomorrow.”
Liu Qingyan nodded. Reporting back to one’s elders was only proper; she could hardly stop them, though she said reluctantly, “When you come down the mountain again, remember to visit us.”
Yan Hongxia smiled. “Of course.”
Lu Zheng laughed. “Let me prepare some snacks for you. What would you like?”
Yan Hongxia answered instantly, “Chocolate!”
“No problem!” Lu Zheng agreed at once, then turned to Ao Qi. “And you, Miss Ao?”
“If it’s no trouble, just the same as Hongxia.”
“No trouble at all. Easy!” Lu Zheng snapped his fingers. A quick trip to the supermarket, nothing more.
At that moment, Wang Xiaowan’s voice rang out from beyond the door. “Senior Brother!”
“In here, come in,” Lu Zheng replied, frowning slightly.
“Something’s wrong with Xiaowan’s voice,” Liu Qingyan said immediately.
The next instant, Wang Xiaowan hurried around the screen wall, her face grave.
“Little Sister Xiaowan, what’s happened?” Du Yueyao rose quickly to greet her.
Liu Qingyan asked, “Didn’t you say two days ago you were returning to the village with your father to repair the ancestral graves? Has something gone wrong again?”
Lu Zheng added, “Didn’t you already finish off that zombie last time? Don’t tell me there’s another one that survived and popped back up?”
Yan Hongxia and Ao Qi also looked towards Wang Xiaowan.
Wang Xiaowan nodded, then shook her head, clearly uncertain. “I noticed something odd, but I’m not sure, so I came back to ask Senior Brother to come with me and take a look.”
Du Yueyao’s eyes lit up. She pulled Wang Xiaowan to a seat. “What is it? Tell us everything, slowly.”
Wang Xiaowan sat down and explained, “The day before yesterday I accompanied Father back to Old Wang Village. Yesterday we hired workers in town and went up the mountain to repair the ancestral graves.”
Du Yueyao asked, “Did something happen?”
Wang Xiaowan shook her head. “No, everything went smoothly. The repairs are finished.”
Du Yueyao blinked, utterly confused.
“But…”
Wang Xiaowan frowned. “The workers told me that lately, digging graves anywhere on that mountain has become much harder.”
“Ah?” Du Yueyao didn’t understand.
Yan Hongxia’s eyes brightened. “The soil has hardened?”
Wang Xiaowan nodded repeatedly. “Exactly. According to them, even after rain, unless you dig while it’s still wet, the next day it becomes rock-hard, like frozen earth in winter.”
“Any other signs?” Yan Hongxia pressed. “Plants withering, animals dying, people going missing?”
Wang Xiaowan shook her head. “No disappearances, or they would have reported it to the authorities. Plants… seem sparser than last year, but I didn’t pay close attention.”
After a pause, she continued, “The main thing is that when I checked, I couldn’t sense any demonic or corpse aura, yet the hardening soil is clearly strange. That’s why I came to ask Senior Brother to come and investigate.”
“Senior Brother?” Wang Xiaowan looked at Lu Zheng.
Lu Zheng nodded. “Of course, no problem.”
Du Yueyao excitedly raised her hand. “I’m coming too! I’m coming too!”
Yan Hongxia laughed heartily. How could a chivalrous adventure be complete without her? She stood up. “Then let’s all go together.”
Everyone exchanged glances and smiled in perfect understanding. They called Auntie Liu in to clear the dishes, then, with a wave of Lu Zheng’s hand, the group soared into the clouds and shot straight into the sky.
